About Susan
Susan has been teaching embroidery for many years and loves to share her enthusiasm for a wide range of techniques.
She completed her City and Guilds Part II in Embroidery with the inspirational Anthea Godfrey at the London College of Fashion (as it then was). Over the past twenty years, she has taught a wide range of classes including City and Guilds and leisure classes, with the WI, and most recently independently in the Wivenhoe and the Colchester area of Essex.
Susan took early retirement in 2013, giving her more time for embroidery and textile related activities. She enjoys being an active participant in the local branch of the Embroiderers’ Guild, visiting more exhibitions, attending workshops and reading more about her favourite textile art topics both in print and on-line.
She has also become a student again, signing up for the City and Guilds in Patchwork and Quilting with Creative Stitch Suffolk. According to Susan, “It’s been great to take on new challenges and learn new skills.”
Susan blogs regularly on her website, Threadlines, where she gathers together various elements of her long-standing fascination with embroidery and textile arts more generally. Her hope is that Threadlines will widen her circle of embroidery and textile art friends, and encourage non-embroiderers to try it – just once (that’s all it takes!
Signature Technique
Embroidery
Susan’s Top Tips
- The simpler the stitch, often, the more you can do with it.
- One of the (many) aspects of textiles that I love is that you don’t need to be doing just one project. Try new things…several at a time!
- Doing something completely new with a group of friends makes it extra special.
- If you want to know the ‘right’ way to embroider then turn to a technique manual.
Books and Patterns
Posts
Is a steam iron necessary for pressing?
Assuming you are using cotton fabrics it is better to just use a warm - hot iron for pressing the seams and the blocks; if you use seam it is very easy to stretch the fabrics. Dawn Cameron-Dick shares a tip with us in her little video on the subject: click here Simple pressing is all that is necessary and you can make a very cheap pressing board by using the central cardboard bolt inner that is discarded by your local quilt shop!
What do I do about the seams?
Question:
am trying to gather info on patchwork , am a sewer BUT am very confused as to press to the darker side ? press one row one way & the next the other ? or press open ?
If you can help please I would be very gratefull.
Love your website !
Quilt for charity from Mary
I surprised myself and finished a quilt for the charity a few days ago. I have even photoed it! Picture attached. I used a lovely piece of liberty cotton (it feels like silk!) and the remainder was pieces that I had in the house. As a dressmaker I find it hard to get my head around the concept of cutting up perfectly good cloth into little pieces and then sewing it back together.